


You Learn A Lot While Training

by caer_swan (mistymystery5)



Category: DCU - Comicverse
Genre: Adolescent Sexuality, Angst, F/F, Sparring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-03
Updated: 2010-08-03
Packaged: 2017-10-10 22:17:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/104958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mistymystery5/pseuds/caer_swan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steph blinked and felt the pang stab at her insides again. Consistent and throbbing. God, Steph was throbbing. Cass was so close. All of Cass. Close.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Learn A Lot While Training

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Havok (Havok452)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Havok452/gifts).



Steph knew beauty, she knew where to find it. It wasn't in the sparkling landscape of nighttime Gotham. It wasn't in the solitude of the park when the sun shone through the trees in summer. It was in Cass' movements: her punches, her kicks and her dodges.

Steph lived for training with Cassie. Like liquid, Cassie moved effortlessly, hair like midnight swirling around her serene face. Steph liked to train with her, she even liked to be beaten, which is what Cass always did - beat her hard, beat her swiftly, beat her soundly... but hard, that was the most important. Training was different with Cass. Batman didn't do it for Steph. He wasn't poetry in motion. Cass was real and she was... well, Cass.

The were in mid-fight. Steph dodged a punch... she knew Cass let her have that one. She left herself open to Cass, who never wasted an opportunity to school Steph, which was what she was doing at that moment. She was schooling Steph in the fine art of kicking ass.

Cass' left connected with the area below Steph's right shoulder. The pain was immediate and her side went numb. Steph could feel herself moving backward, weakly flailing, knocked out of breath. Steph instinctively took advantage of the gravity that was pulling her down and quickly latched onto Cass' favorite shirt.

It was made of flimsy, weak material. The kind of t-shirt one would buy at a corner vendor for a five dollars. 'Home of The Bat' splayed across the front. Cass had a thing for anything that had _his_ symbol on it. That symbol wasn't Batgirl's. She wasn't up to his par in Batman's eyes. Batgirl was a shadow. In Steph's eyes, Batgirl was better; Cassie was better.

The numbness spread across her chest.

_Breathe Steph, BREATHE._

She willed herself but nothing came as her body fell to the ground in slow motion.

The shirt came down with Steph, but Cass didn't. She stood solid as the shirt gave way, audibly tearing down the seams. Time seemed to stand still the moment she hit the floor.

_I need to BREATHE._

Nausea and panic gripped her mind.

Steph looked up at her training partner, standing above her like a tattered angel. The world around her grew fuzzy around the edges and Steph lost sight of the half naked girl before her.

*

Steph blinked awake and bolted upright. Confused, her eyes scanned her surroundings, uncertainty lodging itself deep in her throat.

_Was I dreaming?_

She dully remembered Cass and a hard blow. Her mind swam and images crept in. Steph was falling. She reached for Cass. She couldn't breathe. She was reaching for Cass. She could not breathe. She ripped Cass' shirt off. She couldn't breathe. She ripped Cass' shirt off.

Why couldn't she breathe? Cass hit her hard. Her shoulder ached. That wasn't it. That wasn't the whole story.

Steph saw Cass. Steph saw...

The image came to her mind at once, burning itself behind her eyes so she couldn't see anything else. The color of her skin, unblemished, unbruised… not like Steph. Steph got hit. She wasn't as skilled as Cassie. Cass was perfect. Her muscles, her bone structure, the curve of Cass' breasts, soft, perk - unaware and unabashed of Steph's wide eyes. Cassie was perfect in battle and in body.

No.

Steph shook her head, blond hair tumbling around her.

_I can't. Don't think of that. Anything but that._

"Hey."

Steph looked up. For a moment she forgot she was in the cave - Cass' cave. And Cass was there, right there in front of her, gray hoodie hiding her body, the body Steph saw earlier. Steph looked away immediately, feeling her face burn. Her blond hair, damp with sweat from the workout, slid forward in her face.

"Cass... I..."

"What?"

Cass' tone. Pure. Innocent. The words echoed in Steph confused mind. Cass never said much. She spoke with movement, with expressions. Steph felt the bed creak under her as Cass sat down beside her. She felt her face burn hotter.

"What?" Steph looked at her through from the corner of her eye. Concern clouded Cass' face, glittered in her eyes. Steph felt a pang of something. A pang of longing?

_NEVER._

 

"Spoiler." Cass poked Steph. Steph liked that Cass called her Spoiler. Cass didn't call anyone anything. But Steph. Steph was Spoiler.

Cass moved quickly and cupped Steph's face in her hands, directing it toward herself. Cass looked Steph in her eyes.

"Are you hurt?"

Steph blinked and felt the pang stab at her insides again, consistent and throbbing. God, Steph was throbbing. Cass was so close. All of Cass. Close.

Steph was on her feet in a moment. "I… I… t-tore your shirt… I'll replace it… I… have to go. Like now." Steph didn't look back at Cass, who she knew would be sporting a look of confusion, maybe even hurt by the distance Steph was wedging between them.

_I… I can't be… no. I have Tim. I had a baby. Cassie is my friend. I am Spoiler. I am Stephanie Brown. I am Tim's Girlfriend. Cassie is only my friend._

Quickly grabbing her knapsack, Steph was out the door before Cass had a chance to rise.

_I am not gay._


End file.
